Absolute frequency is a simple concept to grasp: it refers to the number of times a particular value appears in a specific dataset (a collection of objects or values). However, relative frequency can be a little trickier. It refers to the proportion of times a particular value appears in a specific dataset. In other words, relative frequency is, in essence, how many times a given event occurs divided by the total number of outcomes.

Steps

Choose a particular value. Decide on a specific value for which you will determine the relative frequency.

In the example above, say you want to find out the relative frequency of the value ‘5.’

3

Find the absolute frequency. Before you can determine the relative frequency, you must find the absolute frequency: the number of times the value appears in the dataset. Count the number of times the value appears.

In the example above, the absolute frequency is 4 because the value ‘5’ appears 4 times in the dataset.

4

Calculate the relative frequency. Once you have determined the absolute frequency, you can find the relative frequency by dividing the absolute frequency by the total length of the dataset (in other words, the number of values appearing in the dataset). The formula for relative frequency is shown above.

In the example above, there are 16 values in the dataset, so divide the absolute frequency, 4, by 16 to get a relative frequency of ¼ or 0.25: